Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Chara question...

Seems virtually certain I now have chara, sometimes called muskgrass. Can't mistake that garlicky smell! Spreading pretty fast, though mostly in the shallows so far.

Here's my situation, and then my question.

Situation: alkalinity in 40s, pH about 6.5, relatively infertile. Water comes in from two small creeks, averages 10 to 20 gallons per minute. Lake took about 10 months to fill under wet conditions, so probably turns over every 10 to 12 months.

Until chara, zero pond weeds except for a few cattails on the fringes. Recently fertilized two months ago with 50 lb. Water turned greenish tint, though Secchi disk readings never got under 3 feet. After chara got going, Secchi readings closer to 4 feet (doggone it!).

I feed about 8 lbs fish food per day for my CNBG. Also have stocked RES and GSH I've never seen, TP & LMB that I have.

I did have some non-chara plants put in a month ago, but they are minor players compared with chara.

And I'm having electricity put in within a few weeks so can finally get aeration going.

Last fact: Chara has many benefits. I've fished in BOW with chara before, and in moderation they are a real plus. Especially for YOY BG populations, which I've had issues with recruitment!

Also, chara would provide good spawning grounds for GSH (stocked) and TSH (not yet stocked). As an added bonus, they usually aren't emergent so can be fished over the top -- I once caught a CC on a topwater above submerged chara! Chara might help feed the crawfish, and give protection to grass shrimp (I haven't stocked grass shrimp because there was no point without pond weeds).

So I actually kinda like chara, but I don't want it to completely dominate, either.

Question: What choice would you make? Go ahead and fertilize maybe 25 lb to get another bloom going to reduce sunlight & hence limit chara depth? Don't fertilize at all so as not to give chara more nutrients? Wait until aeration is going and then fertilize when risk of DO crash is reduced? Deploy algaecide right away? Stock GC right away? Do nothing (I know sometimes that's best)? Or ... what?

PS Bob, if you'd like to use this in the Ask the Boss section, be my guest. I'm scratching my head big time over this!

To be clear, I'm NOT asking for advice. Just what you would do in my shoes. I'm solely responsible for doing or not doing whatever!

And, when you are finished saying what you would do, please return my shoes.

With recent rains, I'd go ahead fertilize. As long as you get the fertilizer completely dissolved into the water, your risk of fertilizing the chara is low. With your alkalinity of 40, odds are high the chara is absorbing its calcium directly from the lime distributed on the lake bottom...the material which hasn't dissolved, yet. With fertilizer dissolved into the water column, and chara deriving most of its food from direct contact with water and the soils below, I don't think it will spread. By nature, Chara is not rapid growing, nor does it expand rapidly. Also considering it doesn't grow tall, and stays close to the surface, I wouldn't mess it, or worry about feeding it. There are two fundamental reasons to have a bloom...first is to create the base of the food chain in spring to increase odds of survival of newly hatched fish, especially bluegills, and the other is to add color to the water to minimize sunlight penetration to decrease the odds of invasive vegetation. Since we are now in summer, having a bloom helps with late spawned bluegills, threadfins, and tilapia, and to keep the risk low of rooted aquatic plant growth into deeper water. Since you've not mentioned any other aquatic plants, the best reason to fertilize is to bolster your food chain. From reading past posts, I think it wise to focus on the food chain and get the lake fertile. Don't wait.

Thanks, Bob.

You were dead right about how eventually some plants would find the pond congenial. Took a couple of years, but it sure happened!